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Inner solar system…• Consists of:
– Sun– Mercury– Venus– Earth
• Moon
– Mars– Asteroid
belt• Ceres
– Other debris
• Asteroids
Sun• Contains
99.8% of all the mass of the solar system
• Only star in our solar system
• 865,000 miles in diameter
Mercury• Closest planet
to the sun• The smallest of
the 8 planets• 2nd hottest
planet• Very rocky…
like Earth• No stable
atmosphere
View from Mariner 10 (1974) of Mercury
View from Messenger (2008) of Mercury
Venus• 2nd closest planet
to the sun• Hottest planet
– Reach 860 degrees Fahrenheit
• Dense atmosphere– Mainly Carbon
Dioxide– Greenhouse effect
• Why its so hot!
• Sister planet
Mars• 4th planet from
the sun– After Earth
• Atmosphere mainly Carbon Dioxide
• Polar ice caps– Frozen water
• Used to have liquid water in the past
Olympus Mons is the largest mountain in the solar system
Asteroid belt
• Rocks that never clumped together to form a planet
• Proto-planet– Ceres
• Can sometimes make way into inner solar system
Gaspra- Asteroid found in the Asteroid belt (1991)
Outer solar system…• Consists
of:– Jupiter– Saturn– Uranus– Neptune– Kuiper
belt• Pluto
– Scattered disc
• Eris
Jupiter• Largest planet in
solar system• Mainly Hydrogen
and Helium– Enough gravity to
hold onto these light elements
• Not rocky… Gas giant
• Has 63 moons… 47 of which are named
Is Jupiter large?
Hurricane the size of Earth
Saturn• 2nd largest planet• Known for its rings debris orbiting the planet• Very similar to Jupiter• One of its moons, Ganymede, is larger than Mercury…
and is the only moon to possess an atmosphere
Is Saturn large?
Voyager image of Saturn’s rings
Uranus• 7th planet from
the sun• Completely
tilted on its axis– 97.77 degrees
• Winds can reach up to 560 mph
• Many poisonous gases in the atmosphere
Neptune• Farthest
planet from the sun
• Fastest winds in the solar system– 1300 mph
• Methane atmosphere
• Dark spots are huge hurricanes
Kuiper belt• This is
where Pluto is found
• Similar to the asteroid belt– Contains
debris that didn’t become part of a planet
Largest objects found in the Kuiper belt
Put it all together…Mercury-Venus-Earth-Mars-Asteroid belt-Jupiter-Saturn-Uranus-Neptune-Kuiper belt (Pluto)-Scattered disc (Eris)
